Seasonal delights

One thing I absolutely love about France is the food; the thought taken to prepare it, the care taken to prepare it, the fresh ingredients that are par for the course in preparing it and the way French cuisine follows the seasons.

We are moving into autumn and the changes are clear at the farmers market: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apricots are fading quickly away to be replaced by plums, grapes, figs, apples and pears. 

We got a selection of different plums at the market yesterday. Yum! They are all grown in France, sweet, juicy and plump.

Some grapes. Delish.

I make fig jam and fig chutney with the fresh figs friends give me. Again, yum! I'll post the recipes when the time comes.

It feels so good to follow mother nature's course, to fuel your body with what nature intended.

There are some wonderful French dishes coming up that are unavailable during the summer months, more hearty, saucy dishes. I will be talking about them and posting recipes so that you may try them at home. 

There are some exquisite French cakes and pastries coming soon that are only made once a year during a few short days: Galettes des Rois and Bugnes, to name few. Stay tuned for that!

It makes it so special when a really, really good cake is only available 3 weeks out of the year. It's fun, you fell like a kid in a candy shop, cramming your face full. Then you dream about the cake and wait for it all year long. 

The same can be said for plums, grapes, figs and pears; you wait for them to come once a year and truly appreciate eating them while they are in season.

Voila! Gros bisous et a demain!

Love, Charley